The new owners of the bankrupt German department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof plan to keep more than 70 of the chain's 92 stores open, the bankruptcy administrator announced on Wednesday.
A consortium made up of US private equity firm NRDC and German businessman Bernd Beetz have agreed to buy the troubled retail chain out of bankruptcy, in a deal first announced on Tuesday.
Stefan Denkhaus, the attorney administering the company during bankruptcy proceedings, said the plans to keep at least 70 of the stores open was included in the investor agreement, which was notarized on Tuesday.
However, the signed agreement to take control of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof will only come into force if both the court overseeing the bankruptcy and creditors for the troubled firm approve of Denkhaus's insolvency plan.
A meeting of creditors is scheduled for May 28 in the western German city of Essen, where Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is headquartered. Denkhaus has said he plans to present his full plan before the end of April.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof filed for insolvency at the beginning of January, and bankruptcy proceedings were formally opened before the district court in Essen last week.
It's the third time the department store chain has filed for bankruptcy in the past three and a half years.
The company was until recently owned by Austrian real estate mogul René Benko's Signa Holding empire, which ran into deep financial trouble and largely collapsed.
The chain employs around 12,800 people. Further job losses are expected once the new owners shutter at least some stores.
